Tips

As subtle changes take place over time due to over plucking(yes over time eyebrow hairs do not grow back) or due to simple aging or due to genetic or medical reasons, one day you take a good look in the mirror and know there is something missing. You look tired and quite frankly older.

Well defined and shaped eyebrows can make all the difference to how you look and feel.

As a previous salon owner when someone came to me for a makeover, they were amazed at the changes to their look when I reshaped their eyebrows or in many cases when Irecreatedtheir eyebrows.

Drawing on eyebrows or even reshaping them is not a simple "connect the dots" exercise. Unless you are a pro or have a natural skill at doing so you will end up with an amateur result.

With over 20 years of experience as a Make-up Artist, Esthetician and successful Salon Owner, I know what works and what does not.

Here are some of my "Brow Tips" to follow:

Do's and Don’ts

1. TweezingFor a pain-free tweeze hold the skin taught with the thumb and index finger and then tweeze out the hairs in a pulling away motion staying close to the skin and pulling the hairs in the same direction it grows, from nose to ears.

2. Tweezing or waxing above the browAbsolutely a NO...NO! You can take out the odd stray hairs here and there but to remove a complete line of hair above the brow makes the brows look really artificial and it takes your eye away from the clean line below where you really experience that uplifting, instant brow lift effect.

3. Over tweezingStop tweezing your brows and let the hair grow back in so you can start over again. Wait a good three weeks before attempting to reshape the brows. Unfortunately over tweezing usually creates another problem and that is permanently thinned out brows. This is because the hair follicles in that area damage easily so every hair should be plucked carefully.

4. Maintaining Salon BrowsIf you get your brows shaped professionally and you want to maintain that look then check daily for stray hairs instead of perhaps checking once a week. Make sure to check for those stray brow hairs in the mirror by day light. It’s much easier to maintain the shape this way instead of trying to tackle an over grown, blurry, brow line all at once.

5. Eyebrows Shaped Too far ApartWhen the inner part of both brows is over tweezed, an unnatural gap between the brows becomes prominent. To fix this mistake you should stop tweezing and allow the brow hairs to grow back. If there is no re-growth fill in the shape with a brow coloring product starting from your tear duct and connect to the remaining brow shape.

6. To Pluck or Not to PluckThe best time to pluck is just after having a shower or bath when the skin pores are relaxed and the hair will not only come out easier but with less pain too.

7. Overdrawn browsThe task of filling-in/defining a “natural looking” brow for most women is daunting. If you are heavy handed, don’t have steadiness, perhaps can’t see very well or don’t have a clue what to do then you run the risk of having painted on looking brows, try brow powders instead of pencils, they can give a much softer look. I recommend using two colors when possible because just like the hair on our head that is made of different pigments your brows should pick up that same dimension for an ultra natural look.

8. Irregular Shaped EyebrowsThe “happy brow” or “semi-circle” shape. This happens when you are tweezing and trying to create an arch but are not sure where it is and you end up with two ½ circles or what I like to call the “happy brow”. The best way to fix this blunder is by creating a straight line starting from the inner brow to the arch using a brow coloring product and then fill-in the gap. Or better yet, use the Brow Creator by Ditzy Cosmetics.